Fruit-branding machine



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E. A. ROBBLNS FRUIT BRANDING MACHINE Filed Oct; 26, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 www@ E.. A. ROBBINS FRUI T BRANDI NG MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sham; 2

Filed Oct. 26, 1926 FRUIT BRANDING MACHINE Filed oct. 26, 192s 4 shams-Smm 3 Inventor FRUIT BRANDING MACHINE Filed oct. 26, 192s 4 sheets-sheet 4 Inventor Patented Sept. 25;, 1928..

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applies-tion meer october sie, 192e. serial ne massi.

This: invention relates generally tol Inachineslo' use inthe ora-nge and grape i'ruit growing aiiol\ packing industry -Wlierein tiadelna'lnes, designs and the like are a`p-' plied to the fruits for i'c'leirtiiying the' groeiV`Y` ei" or shipper, and hasnior'e particular relieru ence to a machine that is constructed for disposition between the "grading" belt" and fruit sizing 4'beltsfo orange and grape 'liruit m l'iandling inacliineriy, and that automatically brands the fruitas t-lies'anie passes there# throught u rlllie" pri-mary objectV of the invention is to provide a machine oi' this character wherein the t l'enanie `orrnarly `is actually burned into the sliii ol the fruit so that the saine cannot" be' reinoi/edV therefrom, and the' fruit Wil-luntil t'liereinovallof the' skin 'bear the :inail-lt' ol' the grou/er or shipper;

'llie'ini'ention' further ailns `to provide" a machine oilA this character wherein the fruit willi be positively' fedl theretfl-nough, and `i'vlie'reiii Ehe"branding`operation `will be perperfoiiiied Without an lia-bility (i'tthcA fruit bec()fillingcrushed1 duringfthe"branding operatioiil u l lt is a further and important object to provide a'ineclianisnio't this character that will readily acCoin-nio'date' itselft" fruits of :io Varying' sizes', d this regardless of the rapidity oli th'e fruit being lfedtothfe Inachine.

` A urtherobject is to provide? a branding machine foifiru-its that is so' constructed` as to perinit'ol the-"disposition oitI the saine twe'enf't e previouslymentioned gradingbelt and fruit? sizing beltsptiruit handlinglinachinery that is usually" employed inl fruit kpacking" houses,- and this Without rcqiiiriiig sa .I

characters" indicate corresponding parts throughout the -sever'aflAi views 'llligu'ief l is a` side elevation a" fruit grading machine cdn'structed in yaccordance with the presentinventioli, thesaine beingfsh'oivnlas actually' disp'ose'dbetween `Aa flr'uit ln` the" Whe-rein like' reference grading belt and a fruit handling machinery.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional View" taken substantially upon `the line 2-2 of'` Figure l and looking downwardly in the diret .ion ot the arrows.

l Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section disclosing the actual position of an lorange orvgrepe fruit at the time of being branded.

Figure Ll is 4airont end elevation of the machine per se,

Figure 5 a longitudinal section through the machine traine. Y

Figure 6 is a View partly in top plan and partly in cross section of one of the fruit feeding and pressing unitsof the de- Vice;

Figurel 7 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially upon the` line 7--`-'? of Figure 5 for more clearly disclosing' the construction oil? the branding unit.

Figure 8 is a sinn-lar View vtakenY substantially upon` the line 8448 of Figure 6 for more clearly disclosing the sliding' connection between the pulley hangers of the fruit i'feedingz;` and pressingunits` and sizing belt of fruit Figure 9 is also a` similar View taken substantially uponl the line 9-49 oli Figure 2 for more clearly disclosing the sliding conn ectionl between-the `outer pulleys ol the ,"riitfy feeding' and pressing units,' and the machine"4 irain'e. K

New hailing"particular `reference to the `dra-wings- A in Figures L 2 and 3 designates a conventional grading belt of a fruit gradinn` mechanism, while B designates a con; ventional 'fruit sizing' beltrthe inner endoif which terminates in spaced transverse relan tion" with re; )eetl to the grading` belt A, and slightly thercbeneath asclcarly indicatedfin `Figures land 3;' ln carrying' out my' inten tion, there disposedabov'e the fruit grmling! belt a diagonallj7 disposed fruit switchingf plate C for leading the iruitiiroin thegi'adingflielt A' into theV branding lmachine,r designated generally D. tthis point it maybe/Well testate that a plurality of these machines are provided at spaced points throughout the length oli the grading' belt so aste receive and brand the various characters et" oranges or grape fruitsy that are graded by the gradingflbelt A. p

rlFhe gradinginachinep'cr se consists'oiian elongated'bomliltefrane 5 open at its opposite ends and` at its top side, the opposite entd'sofgthe freine being cut upon an angle at the lower end thereof.

with respect to 4the lbottom wall of the same so that when the machine is supported in position between the grading belt and fruit sizing belt, the frame will be in inclined position so that the fruit after being branded will roll through the frame onto the sizing belt B. At the ends of the frame are suitable supporting-legs 64-6, and as disclosed in A' stood that the cross sectional area of the frame maybe increased and other partitions disposed therein for providing additional passageways if desired.` V

At the inlet of each passageway 8 the inner faces of the side walls thereof, as well as the opposite faces ofthe partition wall are provided with longitudinally extending guide blocks 9, the :Inner faces of which are tapered as clearly indicated in Figure 4 so that the fruit passingint-o the frame will be correctly centered upon the bottom wall thereof. lVithin each passage way 8, the bottom wall of the frame is constructed with a longitudinal opening 10 between the inner ends of the respective guide blocks while suspended from the under side of the frame beneath each opening is a branding unit 11, consisting of a metallic barrel 12 having a longitudinalbore for receiving an electrical heating unit 13 inthe form of a cartridge. The top vside of each vbarrel 12 is formed with a longitudinal rib 14 Ythat extends through the adjacent opening 10 of thev frame bottom wall and that is formed upon its top side with branding indicia' or markings 15 that will project above the surface of the Vframe bottom wall in each passageway 8 as is clearly indicated in Figure 7. The reference character 16 designates generally a support for each branding unit and insomuch as no claim is made to the particular .formation of the support, a specific description thereof is not believed necessary.

Upon opposite side walls of the frame 5 are spaced vertically extending arms 17-17 lthe upper ends of which terminate above the frame, while transversely aligned ones of the arins areV interconnected by crossbars 18-18 for supporting an electric motor 19.

Qne end of the armature shaft of this motor is equipped with a small sprocket gear 20 over .which is trained an endless chain 21 Athat is in turn trained over a larger sprocket wheel 22 upon the end of a cross shaft 23 that lis journaled through openings in the rearmost*transversely aligned arms 17-17.

qWithin each passageway 8 of the machine frame' is a fruit conveying and pressing unit of identical construction, and therefore, a description of one will sutiice for both. Each conveying and pressing unit consists of a pair of spaced parallel bars 9.4-24 that are pivoted at their centers to the shaft 2?), the rearmost ends being interconnected by a cross bar 25 uponwhicli may be disposed counterbalancing weights QG. Supported between the opposite ends of these hars 24-24 is a pulley shaft 26 that carries a {ianged pulley 27. Each pulley shaft 2G is operatively connected to the shaft 23 by an endless chain 28 trained over sprocket wheels upon the pulley shaft and over said shaft 23 as clearly disclosed in Figures 2 and 3. Extending forwardly of the pulley 9.7 a frame 9.9 consisting of. a pair of spaced parallel bars Btl-30, the inner ends of which are pivotally connected to the ends of the pulley shaft 26, while interconnecting said bars in spaced relation with the opposite ends thereof is a cross arm 31. The ends of the bars 30 outwardly of the cross arm 31 are longitudinally slotted as at 32 upon 'the inner faces thereof, these slots receiving ribs 23S- 33 upon the outer faces of spaced parallel bars 34-34 of a pulley carrying frame 85, these bars 234-34 being interconnected by a cross bar 3G in spaced relation with the inner ends thereof, while between this bar 3G and the arm 31 are expansible coil springs 37-37 for normally forcing the frame outwardly with respect to the frame 29. .lonrnaled between the outci ends of the bars 34-34 of said frame 35 is a pulley shaft 38 upon which is keyed a flanged pulley 39 there being trained over the pulley 89 and the pulley 27 an endless belt 40 that moves in the direction of the arrows in Figure 3.

Upon the inner end of the frame sidewalls as well as the partition wall 7 and at the upper edges thereof are L-shapcd bracket plates 41, the outer ends of which are interconnected by a cross bar 42. The inner faces of the outermost bracket plates are longitudinally slotted as at 4Q', while the opposite faces of the central bracket are similarly slotted as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2. The outer ends of the pulley shafts 38 of the pulleys 39 are equipped with slide blocks 43, see Figure 9, that more within the slots of said bracket )lates 41 to facilitate the proper movement o, the pulleys and shafts without interferring with the rotation thereof.

Obviously, due to the weight of the innermost pulleys 27 of the feeding and pressing unit said pulleys will hang downwardly as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 so that the weight of the same will act against the fruit F in Figure 3 so as to press the same upon the indicia 15 of the branding unit resulting in the proper branding of the fruit as the saine passes over the unit; By reason of the Lease/ia belt 40 of the feeding and pressing units, the fruit is positively fed over the branding` units, and by reason of the spring connection between the pulley iframe 29 and 35, the proper tension will always be maintained upon the belt fl() so as to facilitate the proper force feeding' oil the fruit over the branding units. The pressure upon the Vtrait may be regulated by the provision of the removable counterbalancing weight 2G.

llt will thus be seen that ll have provided a highly novel, simple, and eliieient fruit branding machine that is Well adapted for all the purposes heretofore designated, and even though l have herein shown and described the invention as consisting of certain detail structural elements it is of course to be understood that some changes may be made therein Without alteeting the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. ln a machine for marking fruit, a die,

and pivotally mounted means comprising an endless belt gravitally engaging said fruit 'for rolling it across the die, and a resilient tensioning means associated with the belt to accommodate the belt to different sized fruit.

2. ln a machine :for marking fruit, a trough for receiving fruit to be branded, a die in the trough, a traine, means for pivotally mounting the frame intermediate its ends, a shaft journaled in one end of the frame, a pulley on the shaft, extensible arms on the shaft one to each side of the pulley, means for slidably supporting the ends of the arms remote from the shaft, a pulley journaled between said ends of the arms, endless belts trained over said pulleys, and yieldable means associated with the arms for normally holding them extended to tension the belt and allow the belt to accommodate itselirl to diil'erent sized fruit.

ln testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

ELWIN A. ROBBINS. 

